CAM import for alternative CAM export configurations

Discussions around the CAM Add-On of QCAD.

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Peter York
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Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 7:18 pm

CAM import for alternative CAM export configurations

Post by Peter York » Mon May 30, 2016 5:32 pm

Hey All,

I've created a custom CAM export configuration, and now I'd like to be able to go the other direction (import the generated g-code as geometry). Should this be possible with the built-in CAM import feature? Or do I need to edit a script or the source code? When I try to use the cam import tool with my g-code, I don't get any error, the layers show up in the layer editor, but no geometry appears in the graphics window.

Thanks,
Pete

OS: Windows 7 & 10
QCAD version: 3.15, CAM trial

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andrew
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Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: CAM import for alternative CAM export configurations

Post by andrew » Mon May 30, 2016 6:52 pm

Peter York wrote:I've created a custom CAM export configuration, and now I'd like to be able to go the other direction (import the generated g-code as geometry). Should this be possible with the built-in CAM import feature?
No. The CAM importer only reads plain, simple G-Code (G0 for rapid moves, G1 for linear moves, G2 & G3 for circular arcs).

Depending on how different your output is from this, you'd likely have to create an entirely new importer for that format.

Peter York
Newbie Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 7:18 pm

Re: CAM import for alternative CAM export configurations

Post by Peter York » Mon May 30, 2016 9:00 pm

Thanks, Andrew-- turns out if I rename the axes in my gcode from GX/GY/Z to X/Y/Z the built-in importer works just fine (which makes sense, I think). Is there a way to edit the CAM importer to look for GX/GY instead of X/Y? Do I need to buy the non-trial version of QCAM to access these files?

Thanks a lot!
Pete

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andrew
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Re: CAM import for alternative CAM export configurations

Post by andrew » Tue May 31, 2016 10:08 am

QCAD/CAM 3.15.2 comes with some configuration options to configure the regular expressions used for parsing G, X, Y, I and J values in G-Code. The default expression is also more relaxed than in previous versions, so this might just work out of the box for you:
http://www.qcad.org/en/qcad-downloads-trial

Peter York
Newbie Member
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 7:18 pm

Re: CAM import for alternative CAM export configurations

Post by Peter York » Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:04 pm

Thanks, Andrew! Worked great out-of-the-box for me!

Cheers,
Pete

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